education

Providence city councilors will soon vote on a new budget that would increase spending on public schools for the first time in seven years. The district wants to use some of that money to improve its struggling middle schools.

Over the weekend the city of Warwick celebrated the 245th anniversary of the burning of the British ship, the HMS Gaspee. Many Rhode Islanders consider it one of the earliest clashes in the American Revolution. The skirmish is often overshadowed by the better known Boston Tea Party, which took place more than a year later.

Now a group of Brown University students is working to raise the profile of the Gaspee Affair. They're creating a virtual reality experience aimed at middle and high school students.

The heads of three Rhode Island universities join a growing list of leaders at higher learning institutions opposing President Trump’s executive order banning refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

A coalition of six mayors of Rhode Island cities and towns have announced support for Gov. Gina Raimondo’s plan to guarantee two years of tuition-free college at the state’s public higher education institutions.

Governor Gina Raimondo makes a stop at Johnston High School Tuesday to promote her initiative for free college tuition. The governor has proposed two years of free in-state tuition for Rhode Islanders on track to graduate at a community college or state university.

Governor Gina Raimondo’s plan for two years of free college tuition is grabbing most of the attention in the budget proposal for fiscal year 2018, but there’s also new funding for K-12 schools. Here are some highlights.

The governor has proposed at total of $2.6 billion for K-12 and higher education.

The State Council on Elementary and Post-Secondary Education voted Tuesday to allow a major proposed expansion of the charter school system, Achievement First, in Providence. The Connecticut-based organization could potentially grow by more than 2,000 students.

Achievement First currently operates two elementary schools in the capital city, with about 700 students. The group is hoping to expand that to three elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school, increasing enrollment to more than 3,000.

Rhode Island Education Commissioner Ken Wagner is backing a plan to add 2,192 seats to the charter for Achievement First, a mayoral academy that currently operates two elementary schools in Providence.